NO – the public don’t care. They actually have no idea it is happening at all – and so Roomba and its ilk will continue down their path and continue to get away with it until they are stopped … I am not holding my breath.

Maybe that doesn’t unnerve you, but it probably should. This is all part of the larger quest for a few major companies to hoover up every bit of data about you that they can. Now, they want to know all about your living space. Going through the iRobot terms of service, you can see just how much data is already being collected on a daily basis just by clicking like on a Facebook page or visiting a corporate website. And that data will likely be just as insecure tomorrow as it is today.

Before reading on - Scott's excellent piece about Amazon's acquisiton of Wholefoods is not what this article is about. Though I will probably extend that on another occasion. No, rather it is the thinking behind the model that he uses to support his case.

Answer … every level in the stack has software associated with the role except ‘we the people’ – or ‘consumer’ as the chart would have it.
As usual, I am in general accord with Scott’s writing and thinking. Continue reading →

Yes. It’s A Word. It’s not a word I like. But I track it. It’s what you do. And one of the places I track it is on a site called ChiefMartec.

Scott Brinkler introduced an interesting concept today, which is discussed in detail on his blog. Namely that Marketers shouldn’t beat up on themselves as much about ‘keeping up with tech’, because the fact is they 1) will never be able to keep up with technological change anyway and 2) they should consider how they are doing against their competitors. Do that and life will look a lot better.

Sometimes I read stuff like this and am reminded of an episode of “Big Bang Theory” in which Sheldon, the archetypal nerd with no social skills, determines that he can make friends by following a flow chart. Marketing is not a one-to-one tool, it is a brand management and presentation tool.

Dang. I saw that Big Bang episode just the other day and it didn’t click. John nailed it. The customer journey rubbish you see on web sites and in presentations is exactly the same issue! Try it. Really try it. Continue reading →